The Adaptive Brain : Aging and Neurocognitive Scaffolding

There are declines with age in speed of processing, working memory, inhibitory function, and long-term memory, as well as decreases in brain structure size and white matter integrity. In the face of these decreases, functional imaging studies have demonstrated, somewhat surprisingly, reliable increa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of psychology 2009, Vol.60 (1), p.173-196
Main Authors: PARK, Denise C, REUTER-LORENZ, Patricia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult. Elderly
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Aging - physiology
Atrophy
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain - pathology
Brain - physiopathology
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition - physiology
Cognition Disorders - physiopathology
Demyelinating Diseases - physiopathology
Developmental psychology
Dominance, Cerebral - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hippocampus - physiopathology
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Learning
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Memory
Memory, Short-Term - physiology
Middle Aged
Nerve Net - physiopathology
Neuronal Plasticity - physiology
Neuropsychology
Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Verbal Learning - physiology
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Summary:There are declines with age in speed of processing, working memory, inhibitory function, and long-term memory, as well as decreases in brain structure size and white matter integrity. In the face of these decreases, functional imaging studies have demonstrated, somewhat surprisingly, reliable increases in prefrontal activation. To account for these joint phenomena, we propose the scaffolding theory of aging and cognition (STAC). STAC provides an integrative view of the aging mind, suggesting that pervasive increased frontal activation with age is a marker of an adaptive brain that engages in compensatory scaffolding in response to the challenges posed by declining neural structures and function. Scaffolding is a normal process present across the lifespan that involves use and development of complementary, alternative neural circuits to achieve a particular cognitive goal. Scaffolding is protective of cognitive function in the aging brain, and available evidence suggests that the ability to use this mechanism is strengthened by cognitive engagement, exercise, and low levels of default network engagement.
ISSN:0066-4308
1545-2085
DOI:10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093656